


Grounded

by unprofessionalbard



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, Post-Canon, cw for alcohol in a social drinking setting, im predictable but someones gotta write the tooth rottingly sweet shit and its gonna b me, like i mention them drinking but its not a focal point nor is anyone drunk, this should be G but there's so many swears but the content is g rated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-13 19:44:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17494133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unprofessionalbard/pseuds/unprofessionalbard
Summary: It's New Year's Eve, and Taako and Kravitz celebrate the same way they always do.Well, almost.





	Grounded

New Years Eve is always a weird time of year for Kravitz and Taako. Busy, to be sure, as winter always was. Magnus had long since become the official party planner for pretty much any event he could get his hands on, so at least that wasn’t on their plate, but they still had people to visit and tasks to complete and gifts to buy and apartments to clean before people came in and out of them without warning— it was a lot. Especially since for, gods, a long long time now, Kravitz hadn’t had to worry about anything like that. Being undead tended to put a damper in your social life.

But beyond that, Taako got… distant. Kravitz picked up on it fairly quickly, adjusted his behaviour, and it usually cleared up when the new year set in, but for the last three weeks or so, Taako remained on edge, quiet and nervous, watching the clock more than he did any other time of year. 

Kravitz didn’t ask. Eventually, on one of many quiet nights in, Taako told him on his own. 

“New years reminds me of the IPRE days,” he’d said, looking directly at dinner instead of at Kravitz. “I don’t— I didn’t— I don’t want you to think I’m uh, acting any weird way ‘cause of you. But New years eve sorta— it’s like I’m expecting the ground to vanish under my feet, you know? Like the world did that thing where it pretended it was gonna, uh, gonna hit me, so I flinched, but nothing’s actually happening?”

“Yeah,” said Kravitz, although he really had no hope at understanding exactly what Taako was going through, “And I never thought you were acting weird because of me. You’re usually very obvious when it’s something I’ve done.”

“Am not!”

“Love, every time you lie it’s a fifty fifty shot you come up with something passable. You’re charming, but I can tell when you’re upset.” 

Taako laughed, adjusting the temperature of the burner. “Ge— uh, come over here and help me chop these vegetables.”

And that was that. 

It’s been a few years since that conversation, and the end of the year has long since fallen into something of a routine. Kravitz makes sure Taako doesn’t spend too much time alone, calls a little bit more when he’s stuck at wok. Taako is always too proud to say thank you out loud, but he communicates the sentiment in other ways, quiet smiles or certain foods or specific jokes. 

New Year’s Eve is generally the same every year— going to Magnus’s place, getting tipsy on champagne, and making a whole lot of noise when the clock strikes midnight before heading home and greeting the new year by waking up at two in the afternoon. Taako likes the dependability and Kravitz likes the company so despite Taako always saying he “might have something more fun to do”, they always go. 

This year is no different, so on New Years Eve they find themselves at Magnus’s, with, as always, what seems like every person Magnus has ever met. 

At ten to midnight, someone drops a champagne flute and it shatters. Kravitz isn’t entirely sure it was an accident, but it pushes them all out into the living room regardless. Magnus challenges Angus to an arm wrestle, which everyone humors him for even though Angus beats him nearly every time and has since he was twenty three. 

In the commotion, Kravitz loses track of Taako; not uncommon given the crowded nature of the house and given that he doesn’t feel the need to watch his boyfriend like a hawk. Still, after about five Taako free minutes, Kravitz can’t help but wonder where he wandered off to.

“Hey, Merle—” Kravitz taps him on the shoulder and Merle turns around— “Have you seen Taako? I seem to have lost him.”

“Trying to get that New Years kiss in, huh?” asks Merle, almost solemnly, as though he’s convinced he’s said something very wise. Kravitz takes a brief moment to sigh heavily.

“I’m not allowed to care about my boyfriend without getting snide comments? I’m not allowed to want to spend time with him?”

Merle laughs at him and Kravitz stifles his smile by taking another sip of champagne, before leaving it at the table and excusing himself on the grounds that that could probably be considered a ‘no’. 

At two minutes to midnight, Kravitz tracks Taako down on the back porch.

“Oh, there you are.”

Taako starts, turning around from his spot at the railing. “Yeah, got caught up in a conversation with Ren and then decided I wanted some fresh air.” 

Kravitz joins him at the railing, hesitating slightly in case Taako wants to be left alone, but as soon as he’s beside him, Taako twines his arm around Kravitz’s, joining their hands together, though he doesn’t look away from the garden. 

“God, it would be so much fuckin’ work to maintain something like this,” says Taako, gesturing around. The garden isn’t super well illuminated, but Kravitz knows what he means— there’s a shed in the far corner, several benches, more wooden garden boxes. Most of them are empty, taken out by the cold, but a few are still pulling through. Magnus is a builder and not a gardener, and it shows, but he also clearly takes good care of his yard. The two dog houses out here are more like dog mansions; almost as large as the shed, spotless of debris. 

A lot of things to keep clean. 

There’s a sign in front of the garden that reads MERLE DO NOT TOUCH. It wasn’t there the last time Kravitz was here. He’s not about to ask why it’s there now.

“Mhm,” says Kravitz. “People might say the same about our kitchen.” 

“That’s not work. I do that for fun.” 

“Oh yes, and Magnus build things because people threaten to fireball him if he doesn’t.”

“Touché.” 

From inside the house, Magnus yells, “Thirty seconds!” Outside, Taako rolls his eyes, and Kravitz laughs. 

“Any last send offs before the year is over?” asks Kravitz. 

“Yeah,” Taako tilts his head, “The end of the year is always uh— always. It’s something. But it feels more grounded when I celebrate it with you.” 

Taako’s face catches the light streaming out from inside the house, and it makes his eyes shine and his brown skin look like a rich gold, illuminates every freckle on his face. His grin is open, inviting, and the sight of him takes Kravitz’s breath away, still, after all these years.

“I love you,” says Kravitz, and Taako is kissing him before the countdown is even over. And it’s nice, and soft, and someone in the neighbourhood sets off fireworks, and Taako smiles against Kravitz’s lips when the countdown inside the house ends in cheering and pots and pans clanging (whether that’s on purpose or accidental is unclear).

Taako’s hands are warm on Kravitz’s shoulders when he breaks the kiss, breathless. “Happy new year, babe.”

If this moment never ends, that would be alright with Kravitz. 

He’s not sure what, exactly, prompts him to do what he does next. Maybe it’s the way Taako laughs. The light feeling in his stomach, the joyful atmosphere, the beautiful night. All of the above. Regardless, it’s out of his mouth before he’s even thought through what he’s going to follow it with.

“Marry me.” 

It’s nothing they haven’t talked about before, although always in the abstract, the eventual. It seemed like a lot to plan, and they always had other things to do, and it would probably have zero impact on their day to day after all was said and done. They already lived together— owned cats together, even. But right now, Kravitz couldn’t care less about any of that. He cares about loving Taako, showing that love in any way he can.

Taako blinks. “What?”

“Marry me, Taako, I— I don’t have a ring, or a plan, or— or anything really but— I am so fucking in love with you. And I always will be. And, if you’ll have me, I’d love to prove it to you. Over and over and over again. Forever.”

For a few nerve-wracking moments, Taako is silent, eyes wide. 

Then he screws up his face and says, “Oh, fuck you,” before letting go of Kravitz’s shoulders. 

Kravitz’s heart skips a beat, and not in the good way. “Hh—uhm?” he manages. 

Taako has taken a step back now, and he’s scowling, searching through his pockets, and Kravitz’s throat is closing and he knows he has to do damage control but he’d— gods, at the most he’d expected a direct ‘no’—

“Okay!” That’s definitely hysteria coming through in his voice, but to be fair, he’d certainly thought things were better between them than ‘fuck you’. “We don’t have to— I totally understand—”

“Oh m— oh shit, fuck, that’s not what I mea— hold on— hold on where the fuck is it—” Taako’s searching is getting more frantic, which Kravitz ignores in favour of getting a handle on his malformed plan crashing down around him. Of course Taako wouldn’t want— not by surprise, and a wedding is so much work anyway— but had he screwed up that much by asking— oh fuck, was Taako going to break up with him? Shit—

“Aha! Here—” Taako finds what he’s looking for and produces a small box; black velvet, gold hinges and rim. Kravitz’s spiralling thoughts grind to an abrupt halt as he stares at the box in Taako’s hand, before looking up at Taako, whose furrowed brow is impossible to read. 

“What?”

“I am _so_ annoyed with you.” Taako opens the box, revealing a ring— silver band, circular sapphire set in the middle. Just large enough to be obnoxious, although Kravitz didn’t doubt that was on purpose, considering it was Taako. 

“What.”

“Thre— fucking three and a half months,” says Taako, “Months! That I’ve been planning and designing a ring and picking a location and fou— literally four fucking days beforehand you just go right ahead— I guess we’re fucking doing this now then!”

Taako drops to one knee, and through his shock and emotional whiplash, Kravitz dimly remembers Taako’s insistence that Kravitz keep this coming friday free. 

“Kravitz,” says Taako, “I had a wh— a whole speech planned but I haven’t— fuck I haven’t memorized it yet ‘cause you ruined my proposal plans, so we’ll have to mak— we’ll have to go with some improv.”

“Are you— are you counter-proposing to me?”

“Hold on, I’m trying— I gotta, uh, come up with some shit to say—” says Taako, waving off the question before continuing with, “Kravitz. You are the love of my life. And you’re handsome and smart and funny and sometimes you snort when you laugh and just— I just think that I wanna spend the rest of my life with you our terrible cats and that was like— fuckin’ a bilion compliments where I didn’t say anything self-aggrandizing so— will you marry me?”

Kravitz laughs, because what else can he do, because his chest feels fit to burst, and blurts out, “You gave me a fucking heart attack!”

“That’s a yes, right?”

“Of course it’s a yes, Taako! I asked you first!” Kravitz laughs again, and wraps a hand around Taako’s wrist to pull him to his feet. “I thought you were dumping me, you dickhead!”

Taako fumbles with the ring, grabbing it out of the box and throwing the box behind him, where it bounces off into the garden somewhere. Kravitz offers his hand before Taako asks and Taako slides the ring onto his finger, and Kravitz doesn’t even take the time to marvel at it before bringing Taako in for another kiss. 

Taako wraps his arms around Kravitz’s waist while Kravitz cups Taako’s face with his hands. 

In a moment, Taako pulls back, that brilliant smile still on his face. “W— are you crying?”

“No,” says Kravitz, blinking furiously, “Shut up.”

Taako laughs, and one of his hands leaves Kravitz’s waist to wipe the few tears on his face away. “Gay.”

“You put me thr— through a lot just now, I think I can shed a few tears.” 

“You ruined my proposal plans!”

“You cussed me out when I asked you to marry me!” 

“Okay, well— I, uh, I’ll admit that one— that one’s my bad. But also— we’ve been together long enough that I feel like you should be anticipating some of my bullshit, so I, uh, I’m not taking to— tot— full responsibility here.” 

Kravitz laughs, wiping his own face now, teetering on the verge of full-on crying. Only a mild sense of embarrassment stops him from going over the edge. 

“You know what sucks?” says Taako, continuing without waiting for a response. “Your proposal speech was fuckin’ miles better than mine. That shit was off the top of your head?”

“Just— just natural eloquence, not that you’d kno— you’d know anything about that,” he manages, and Taako laughs, leaning into his shoulder. “I love you,” says Kravitz, even though it feels inadequate for expressing how he feels. It always does, with Taako.

“I love you,” returns Taako, easy as breathing. “Can’t believe we’re fuckin’ engaged.” It’s quiet, almost lost in the crook of Kravitz’s neck. 

“You didn’t have to say yes.”

“ _You_ said yes.”

“Well, you didn’t have to ask me to marry you back.”

Taako hums noncommittally. “Don’t get too comfy. I could take it back.”

Kravitz stifles a laugh. “You wouldn’t.” It’s the start of a joke, but once he says it out loud he knows he’s sure. Even with the shellshock of earlier hanging around like party guests overstaying their welcome, he’s sure. "You’d be giving up the tax benefits.”

Taako laughs, taking a step back from Kravitz, hand leaving Kravitz’s waist only to find his hand. “C’mon. Let’s go inside. This— this is an engagement party now.” Taako gives him a soft, genuine smile— rare, still, but much more common as of late. Kravitz lets himself be led, intertwining his fingers with Taako’s. 

Just outside the door, Taako stops. “This friday,” he says, “When we, uh, we go out— Can we still pretend to be, uh— pretend I’m proposing to you for the first time?”

“For the free dessert?”

Taako gives him a look of downright adoration that, despite its instant recognizability, still makes Kravitz’s heart skip a beat—in the good way. “Babe, I love you so fucking much,” Taako says. 

“That’s a yes?”

“Oh, you _know_ it’s for the free fuckin’ dessert.”

Kravitz smiles— or perhaps he hasn’t stopped smiling, it’s hard to tell— and takes another look at his engagement ring, before confirming, “I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> it's still january so i'm still allowed to post this. its on brand that it's late. don't look at me.
> 
> i'm on tumblr @tieflinggay and on twitter @elftwink


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